Sports Integrity Briefs – 7 September 2017

• The South African Football Association (SAFA) intends to challenge a FIFA decision that it should replay its 2018 World Cup qualifying match against Senegal, which it won 2-1 on 12 November last year. SAFA said that it had received a letter from FIFA stating that the match would be replayed within the November 2017 international window, after FIFA received confirmation that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had upheld its lifetime ban imposed on Joseph Lamptey, who refereed the match. ‘SAFA is studying the contents of the report and will issue a statement on intentions to challenge that decision’, read a SAFA statement.

• A court in Caen, northern France, has sentenced Bernard Sainz, nicknamed Dr. Mabuse, to nine months in prison for inciting amateur and semi-professional cyclists to dope, reportsOuest France. Ten other defendants in the case were sentenced to terms ranging from three to eight months. Sainz was previously sentenced to a year in jail for doping cyclists, after police stopped him for speeding and found prohibited substances in his car.

• The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has opened an investigation into potential breaches of its regulations at the FIFA World Cup 2018 Asian Final Round Qualifying matches played on 5 September. The AFC did not mention the details of the investigation, but a statement said that it had previously written to its members reminding them of the rules on political neutrality.